Desecrating Sanctuaries (Day 6)

With no real aim of the day today, we were slightly lost. We had a few odds and ends to do, but we decided that wandering back down Princes Street and some parts of the Royal Mile seemed like a goal for the late morning/early afternoon. So that’s what we did. I wanted to buy a Vivienne Westwood handbag, but it turned out to be 435 pounds which eaquals almost a grand. Er, no.

The National Gallery Complex was having an Andy Warhol exhibit that ended the day before, but the soup cans were still outside when we walked by.



The castle from Princes Street:



After wandering for a hour or two, we decided to eat lunch. Upon the recommendation of a fellow backpacker we met on the bus in Glasgow, we found a restaurant for the chain called ‘Wetherspoons’ and decided on some Scottish fare.





It is strange eating a restaurant/bar that is more ornate than most Catholic churches back at home. There are many of these types of places where we were.

Back on the street, we did some shopping at H&M and wandered through the Princes Street Gardens.













The above picture is of Scott Monument and one of the first exceedingly cool structures I saw in Edinburgh. It has been criticized as looking like “the top of a church spire plunked onto the ground”.

Later that afternoon, we headed back to the National Gallery of Scotland and visited the galleries to broaden our range of art viewed on this trip. This meant more Monet, Titian, Rembrandt, and a few pieces from a crazy fellow named William Blake. Very interesting. After getting kicked out of a park (because it was closing at 5:30, apparently), we headed home for dinner.

Later that night, we went on the tour for “The Real Mary King’s Close”. Let me describe a bit about it so that you can get the exact idea of how awesome this tour was. My Frommer’s book writes:

” Beneath the City Chambers on the Royal Mile, lies a warren of hidden streets where people lived and worked for centuries. When the City Chambers was constructed in 1753, the top floors of the existing buildings were torn down and the lower sections were left standing to be used as foundations. This left a number of dark, mysterious passages largely intact. In 2003, groups led by guides…began to visit these dwellings for the first time in perhaps 250 years.”

Yeaaaaah! It was pretty freaking great. (I took the following images off the web since it was too dark to take my own pictures.)









Some of these places still had the wallpaper up. It was really like going back in time.

After we were done for the night, we sat out along the cobbled streets of the Royal Mile and did some of that chit-chat that people do and eventually headed to bed for tomorrow is our last full day in Scotland. Never fear…we saved some of the best for last! We explore Edinburgh Castle and down Scotch whiskey (aka hot death.)

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Panorama! (Day 5)

Slept well, we did. Our roommates were up and out fairly early this morning, but with earplugs, I didn’t much notice. We were up at around 8:30 am and slowly inched our way toward functioning enough to venture out into our new haunt, Edinburgh.

In Edinburgh, the castle is the main focal point and heart of it’s history. The Royal Mile is the stretch of road that runs from the promenade of Edinburgh castle down to Holyrood Palace, which is the residence in which the Queen and royal family stay when in Scotland. Today, our mission was to conquer the Royal Mile.


This is the Tolbooth Church, completed in 1844. It is now a restaurant and café.



In Edinburgh, there are narrow alleyways between the tall buildings in which people used to (and some still do) live and work and they are called ‘closes’. Nowadays, closes are well marked on the street and most are open for people to wander down into, although activity is somewhat limited in the majority of them. The above picture is what I discovered down of the first closes we came across.


The tall spire in the middle of the above picture is St. Giles Cathedral (I will show a picture of it at night at the end of the blog). The origins of this cathedral date back to the 12th century, but it was burned by the English when they overran the city in 1385. All that really remains of the 15th century church is the spire, a familiar landmark of the city.

Beside St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile (to the right in the picture) is the site of the last public hanging in the city, taking place in 1864. It is now marked by three gold plates in the concrete. I stood there and pondered which direction they might have faced…and the last sights they may have seen. Creepy!


Down another close

Further down the Royal Mile, we came upon a small police museum and seeing how it was free(!) we, of course, headed inside to check it out.



They had some interesting facts about famous Edinburgh criminals and had lots of old weapons on display.



And then…there was the business card holder.



Gross! The policeman at the counter was really eager to tell us all about this particular piece and pointed out, “When you think about it…it’s really only leather.” Awesome!

Moving right along, we meandered down more of the Royal Mile, stopping in most every tourist shop so that Jean could find some McAllister goods, while I was searching for photo ops.










A poet.




This is Canongate Church; christened in 1691. When today’s royal family is Edinburgh staying at Holyrood Palace, they attend church here. I wanted to rub my hands all over the door frame in case Prince William may have passed by that way, but restrained myself. Who knows where that doorframe has been.

We stopped by a little old pub along the Mile for lunch.



After munching down a chewy, dry pizza, we made our way to the last stop on our tour as well the Royal Mile itself, Holyrood Palace.





The Palace of Holyrood is only open to the public when the royal family is not present. I wasn't sure, so I thought I’d double-check…


”Ahem…ahem…Queenie? You here? Queenie? It’s me, Erin.”

While walking, we noticed large hills beside Holyrood Palace – turns out these are called crags. These are the Salisbury Crags, to be exact. At the top of the Salisbury Crags, is Arthur’s Seat which peaks at 825 feet...



Jean and I were feeling mildly ambitious right then, so we started the climb up, deciding to check out the ruins we saw part way up.













We were pretty pooped-out to even climb that bit (we are maybe a ‘twee bit out of shape), so we considered turning back. But Arthur’s Seat loomed above me like a dare.



Not wanting to regret doing something I was too lazy to do in a place I may never come again, Jean and I parted ways closer to the top and I continued on my own.





After trodding on for a while, I decided I would make a brief stop at the clearing right before the summit…and what a view, even from there.


Click the above image to enlarge

I continued my ascent to the top and basked in the beautiful view and sunlight.






Old Town and Edinburgh Castle


Click the above image to enlarge


Click the above image to enlarge



After scaling back down at record speed and reconnecting with Jean, we then proceed to get lost by walking 15 minutes in the wrong direction. We finally found our way to Princes Street (main shopping street) and did a bit of exploring there.



After buying sacks of groceries from Sainsbury Central (another grocery chain), we headed back to the hostel to cram in with the herds into the kitchen facilities to eat some pre-packaged delights. Later in the evening, we got slightly bored so we headed out to explore the Old Town and the Royal Mile at night…and to find some junk food.



We walked for a while down a street off the Royal Mile and found a discount grocery shop called Lidl (I’m not sure what was wrong with their food, but I don’t want to find out). We bought a bucket of ice cream (which we are known to do at home) and found a bench to devour it at. Somehow, we attract the crazies and some man stood a foot away from us and talked to his dog about us. Awkward. We packed in it and headed much further down the street for crazy-free, ice cream sensations.

Tomorrow we go on the most interesting tour of our trip – The Real Mary King’s Close. Intact. Underground. 1500’s. And…go.

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